Sicily · Trapani
Salemi
The Trapani hill town where Garibaldi raised the tricolor on 14 May 1860 and proclaimed Salemi the capital of Italy for a day.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Salemi is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia.
Subscribe and you get Salemi's letter the day it comes out.
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov
- By car
- 1 h 30 min from Palermo
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 9,752
- J12°
- F13°
- M14°
- A17°
- M22°
- J28°
- J32°
- A31°
- S27°
- O22°
- N17°
- D13°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Salemi sits above the valley in the Trapani interior, on the ridge of Monte delle Rose between two rivers. The Elymians built the city of Halyciae here, conquered by Rome in 272 BC and granted freedom from taxes for its voluntary submission. Two days after landing at Marsala with the Thousand, Garibaldi prepared his march on Calatafimi and Palermo from this ridge, which is why the town held its title for only a matter of days rather than longer.
The centro storico groups around the castle and the ruined church beside it, built in Campanella stone. Below and outside this core lies the former Jewish and Arab quarter, its low stone houses and narrow lanes still standing though damaged by the earthquake. Outside the commune altogether, on its own, stands the region's oldest surviving religious building, an early Christian basilica with sixth-century mosaic fragments predating everything else in the town by centuries. What survives, then, is layered rather than continuous: an ancient foundation, a medieval center broken by the 1968 quake, and an older Christian outlier that the disaster never touched.
How to get there
From Catania (CTA), about 4 h 2 min by car.
By car from the center of Palermo 1 h 30 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Palermo?
Coming by train into Palermo Centrale? Salemi is about 1 h 30 min away by road.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Castello Normanno-Svevo
Hilltop castle built by Roger I in 1077 on Greek-Roman foundations, rebuilt by Frederick II, where Garibaldi raised the Italian tricolor on 14 May 1860.
Basilica di San Miceli
Early Christian basilica on the edge of the commune, the oldest surviving religious building in the area with sixth-century mosaic fragments.
Rabato
Former Jewish and Arab quarter of low stone houses and narrow lanes, partly damaged by the 1968 Belice earthquake.
Ruderi della Chiesa Madre
Stabilized ruins of the seventeenth-century Mother Church beside the castle, demolished after the 1968 earthquake and kept as a memorial.
Piazza Alicia
Main piazza of the centro storico in Campanella stone, with a panorama over the Belice Valley and the Egadi islands on a clear day.
Living here
Could you live here?
Salemi meets all 3 of our rules for a small town.
- 9,752 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Mazara del Vallo, a city of 50,011, is 31 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
- A station of its own. Trains are the overlooked way to get around Italy: no parking, straight into the center.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
- Population 9,752, down 7.4% since 2015
- Nearest city Mazara del Vallo, 31 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- A national health service hospital in the comune · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €400 to €600 per m² to buy, €1.60 to €2.40 per m² a month to rent
Weighing a move here? See the moving year.
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- In-between
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 87% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 1, Italy's highest hazard
- Trapani airport (TPS), 51 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Palermo, 1 h 30 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
6% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Tunisia, Romania and Morocco, against 9% across Italy. 10 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Australia. There are 261 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 52% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Trapani province ranks 93rd of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Castelvetrano, 18 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Palermo, 58 km away. The nearest IB school is Gonzaga International School Palermo, 59 km as the crow flies.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1% a year in property tax, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. The town adds 0.6% to your income tax. 7% pensioner tax: this town qualifies, for someone with a foreign pension who has lived abroad for five years: 7% on foreign income, for ten years.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Sicily spends about €1,820 a month, €580 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €524 a year for water, on the Sicily average.
Climate and risk
The national maps show no residents in a high or medium flood zone. 2% live in a zone rated high or very high for landslides.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
Known for
CAPITAL FOR A DAY
On 14 May 1860, Garibaldi raised the tricolor on the castle and proclaimed Salemi the capital of the new Italy, holding the title for less than two weeks.
NORMAN CASTLE
Built by Roger I in 1077 on Greek-Roman foundations, rebuilt by Frederick II, the round tower still dominates the Belice Valley.
1968 BELICE
The January 1968 earthquake destroyed the medieval Mother Church and parts of the Rabato quarter, marked today by stabilized ruins and memorial squares.
Common questions
- What is Salemi known for?
- Salemi is the Trapani hill town where Garibaldi raised the tricolor on 14 May 1860 and proclaimed Salemi the capital of Italy for a day.
- Where is Salemi?
- Salemi is a comune in the province of Trapani, in Sicily, at 446 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Salemi?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Trapani (TPS), about 51 min by car.
- Can you get to Salemi without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Palermo to Salemi?
- About 1 h 30 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Salemi?
- Best in Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov. July is the warmest month, averaging 32 degrees, and November the wettest, with about 15 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Salemi?
- Sortino, Castelbuono and Sambuca di Sicilia.
- How many people live in Salemi?
- 9,752 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Salemi a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Salemi is a small town that meets all 3 of our rules. The nearest city, Mazara del Vallo, is 31 min away by car. There is a national health service hospital in the comune. Full fibre reaches 87% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 446 m
- Population: 9,752
- Surface area: 182.42 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
Similar
Towns like Salemi
What all six share with Salemi: between 3,000 and 10,000 people
Sortino
Province: Siracusa
both inland in Sicily · both hill towns
Castelbuono
Province: Palermo
both inland in Sicily · both hill towns
Sambuca di Sicilia
Province: Agrigento
both inland in Sicily · both hill towns
Cammarata
Province: Agrigento
both inland in Sicily · both have a railway station in the comune
Tirano
Province: Sondrio
both hill towns · both have a railway station in the comune
Minervino Murge
Province: Barletta-Andria-Trani
both hill towns · both have a railway station in the comune
The letter
Salemi is on our list. Its letter is still to come.
We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter: the photo, what is worth eating, and when to turn up. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Salemi comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Cerveteri, 469 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.